BRIEFCASE.

Byline: -- Staff and Wire Services

Consumer credit shows slowing

WASHINGTON -- Consumers kept charging at a rapid pace on their credit cards in July although their overall borrowing slowed a bit.

The Federal Reserve reported that consumer credit rose at an annual rate of 3.7 percent in July, down from a 5.9 percent growth rate for consumer debt in June.

The slowdown reflected a big drop in borrowing in the category that includes auto loans. The category that includes credit cards saw an increase as consumers continued to turn to their credit cards to finance purchases now that home equity lines of credit are becoming harder to obtain.

During the housing boom, when sales of both new and existing homes set records for five consecutive years and prices were rising sharply, many homeowners tapped the rising value of their homes to finance their spending by taking out home equity lines of credit.

However, now with home sales plunging and home prices stagnant, home equity lines of credit have become less available. That has pushed consumers back to relying more on their credit cards to finance purchases.

Total consumer credit rose by $7.5 billion July, below the $9.5 billion increase economists had been expecting and was below the actual increase of $11.9 billion in June.

The July gain still pushed consumer debt to a record high of $2.456 trillion. The Federal Reserve does not include loans secured by real estate, such as mortgages, in its measurement of consumer debt.

Revolving credit, the category that includes credit cards, rose at an annual rate of 6.6 percent in July, the third consecutive big monthly gain. Revolving credit had been up at a rate of 6.4 percent in June and 10.9 percent in May.

Nonrevolving credit, the category that includes auto loans, rose at a modest rate of 1.9 percent in July after having risen at a 5.6 percent rate in June and a 5.5 percent rate in May. The July gain was the weakest showing in nine months, since nonrevolving credit had actually fallen by 2.1 percent last October.

Intel Corp. hikes sales prediction

SAN JOSE -- Intel Corp., the world's largest semiconductor company, boosted its third-quarter sales forecast on Monday amid stronger-than-expected demand for its microprocessors.

The announcement came on the day rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc., a smaller chip maker that has struggled financially in recent quarters, hoped to own the headlines with the launch of its ballyhooed new server chip.

Intel added $200 million to the top of its financial outlook, saying it now expects sales of $9.4 billion to $9.8 billion in the current quarter. That compares with the previous forecast of $9.0 billion to $9.6 billion.

OPEC weighs production boost

VIENNA, Austria -- OPEC weighed a push by some members Monday to modestly boost its production quota amid stubbornly high oil prices and expectations of a spike later this year in the global demand for crude.

On the eve of today's meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, at least seven members -- Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar and Venezuela -- all said they believed the markets were amply supplied and suggested the official output quota of 25.8 million barrels a day should stand.

Home Depot revises outlook

ATLANTA -- The Home Depot Inc., the world's largest home improvement store chain, revised its financial outlook Monday, paring its expected decline in earnings per share from continuing operations thanks to a tender offer that will reduce the number of its outstanding shares.

The Atlanta-based company said it expects earnings per share from continuing operations to decline 7 percent to 9 percent for fiscal 2007. It had previously forecast a decline of 12 percent to 15 percent for the year.

The revision follows Home Depot's purchase of nearly 290 million shares of its stock at a price of $37 per share, for a total cost of $10.7 billion excluding fees and expenses related to the offer.

The company used the proceeds of the sale of its wholesale distribution business to pay for the majority of the tender offer.

The shares represent 14.6 percent of the shares outstanding on Aug. 31.